ELECTRONIC Travel Authority System, the creator of Australia’s electronic visa ETA, has issued a plea to travel agents to input data more accurately when getting permission for their customers to travel to the country.
The ETA became available to travellers to Australia in March 1997. Agents must type in travellers’ family names and passport numbers exactly as they are written in their passports to apply for the electronic visas.
But ETAS says that confusion has been caused with foreign names, when it is unclear to the agent which is the family name and which is their given name.
Now ETAS is requesting that both names should now be used.
ETAS’ liaison manager Fred Baker said: “It’s slightly more work for the agent, but it avoids a lot of hassle, time and trouble later on.”